New exhibit at Greenbelt Nature Center

Staten island Advance/Mark SteinThe Greenbelt Nature Center has a new photo exhibit on display celebrating Mark Twainâs âThe Adventures of Tom Sawyer.â The photographs were taken by The Creative Photographersâ Guild, in conjunction with Staten Island OutLOUD.

SEA VIEW -- Despite uncharacteristically mild winter weather, spring is not officially here. However, an ongoing exhibit at the Greenbelt Nature Center will have folks wanting to grab their hiking boots and cameras to capture the essence of re-birth and creation.

In keeping with this spirit, a photo montage highlighting the creativity of Mark Twain’s “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” is hanging at the Greenbelt site. The photographs, taken by The Creative Photographers’ Guild, were unveiled this past weekend.

“A lot of the photographs are trying to bring Sawyer’s sense of adventure into the present,” said Jessica Kratz, Nature Center coordinator, citing photographs that include wooded trails, a cemetery, historic structures, and the natural wonder of the outdoors.

One photograph includes a bust and photograph of Twain. Another displays a white picket fence.

Some may recognize that a handful of the pictures depict Wolfe’s Pond Park, Prince’s Bay, and Lake Ohrbach in Pouch Camp, Sea View.

Ms. Kratz hopes the photographs will impart some spring fever to people and get them out of their homes.

On Sunday, the Nature Center, in conjunction with Staten Island OutLOUD, celebrated the aura of Tom Sawyer’s exhibition by hosting a Hunt for Tom & Huck’s lost treasure. More than two dozen youngsters participated.

Following the hunt, attendees gathered around the Nature Center’s fireplace for a short reading from Tom & Huck’s adventure.

Staten Island OutLOUD presented the event as part of The Big Read, an initiative endorsed by the National Endowment for the Arts, in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and Arts Midwest.

“We had great weather for it,” said Ms. Kratz. “It’s good to pay more attention to the outside. Spring looks like it’s going to be a little early this year. Get a head start.”

The exhibit will be on view at the Greenbelt Nature Center until March 24. The center is at 700 Rockland Ave.

For more information, visit www.sigreenbelt.org or www.statenislandoutloud.org. For additional details on The Creative Photographers’ Guild, visit www.cpggallery.org.